The Department of Agriculture (DA) is confident in the agricultural sector's performance in the second quarter, citing strong prices for palay (unmilled rice) and the restoration of 30,000 hectares of rice land damaged by typhoons during the fourth quarter of 2025.
According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, rice production is expected to increase due to the rising palay prices and the recovery of previously damaged rice fields.
The DA also projects a recovery in the second quarter for fisheries and non-rice crops such as corn.
"We are expecting production to be okay because a large portion of the sector's output is in rice," said Arnel V. De Mesa, DA spokesman and assistant secretary for Special Concerns and Official Development Assistance.
The DA is also looking forward to increased exports as ongoing trade negotiations with Japan, the European Union, and Canada come to fruition.
"Once these trade deals are concluded, they will contribute to the increase in our production of high-value commercial crops," De Mesa noted, pointing to items like mangoes and coconut oil that command premium prices.
However, the DA faces challenges in the third and fourth quarters due to El Niño, high prices for petroleum products and fertilizer resulting from Middle East conflicts, and depleted reservoirs.
To mitigate El Niño, the DA has directed regional field offices to explore ways to maximize yields in areas not expected to be affected by El Niño, improving water management techniques such as cleaning canals and releasing shallow tube wells.
"We need to clean the canals, we need to release shallow tube wells, solar irrigation. Our last recourse is cloud seeding if water is really lacking," De Mesa emphasized.
The DA will closely monitor rainwater brought in by typhoons to refill depleted reservoirs and ensure the irrigation systems in Luzon receive sufficient water.
